14th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

A lot of interesting and important things happened last week.

The Barrio San Antonio Neighborhood
Aisling and Peter McCallum collected food in their neighborhood on Sunday, becoming the second official neighborhood association to donate food weekly to the Community Food Bank. They collected 42 lbs. from their neighbors which bettered my first collection by 20 lbs, They even got some Easter candy including a large Dove Easter Bunny. The mother who donated the candy said she wanted to get the stuff out of her house and away from the kids.

If you know Aisling and Peter, call them and give them your support. It's a good thing they are doing.

Safeway Saturday
A few weeks ago Barbara Farragut had an idea about reaching out to other neighborhoods ...especially the Sam Hughes Neighborhood...and suggested we set up a little booth at Safeway. I talked to Dan, the manager at Safeway and he liked the idea. So from 11:30 am to 3 pm Barbara and I compli- mented each other on the foresight to wear layered clothing so we could talk to all of the people entering or leaving Safeway without chattering our teeth. It was cool standing there. But what also helped was the warm reception we received. We met a sea captain from Sam Hughes who delivered sail boats around the world and was gone months at a time. But he knew someone who would be interested in the One Can A Week program. He said he would probably get back to us soon.

Then Krystal and her daughter stopped by and she immediately took to the idea. She saw her roll as a coordinator because she knew all kinds of folks in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association. She too said she would get back to us in a short time after she read our blog and talked to people.

I am going to have that booth at Safeway for as many Saturdays as possible. The manager thought at least 2 or 3 times a month would be appropriate. As we gain more success, I then want to set up booths at other Safeways around Tucson to introduce One Can A Week to more neighborhoods. This idea of Barbara's is a terrific slow growth concept and will give One Can A Week more credibility with each passing week.

KIIM 99.5 FM Radio
The top radio station in Tucson also had a booth and their "Prize" Slot Machine across from us at Safeway. I told Barbara that I was going to talk to someone at their booth about One Can A Week when they started to pack up. Lois Lewis, KIIM's Mon - Fri,7 pm - midnight Air Personality -- whom I listen to every night before falling asleep, believe it or not -- had a better idea. She came over to talk to us and said she liked the One Can A Week idea and would mention it on the air. It felt good to talk to an important Tucson personality without having to make a nudge of myself. If you don't listen to Lois you should. Her show is very informative and fun...in addition to her great picks. Here's a link to her page on the KIIM-FM website. http://www.kiimfm.com/showdj.asp?DJID=33420

Miles Sunday Collection
It was Easter and all of us had to leave more "Sorry We Missed You" cards than ever before, but we still collected enough food to beat our previous record by 6 lbs. We had a total of 228 lbs which included 188 lbs of food, 32 lbs. of fruit, 8 lbs of non food items and $35.31 in cash. We think next Sunday will be great and maybe there will be lots of left over ham and chocolate bunnies.

Intended Consequences
As many of you have heard me say, part of my plan, besides collecting food for the Community Food Bank, is to unite the Miles Neighborhood so we really feel part of something. Well, it's happening. Three people asked me to deliver some important and useful information to all of our Miles neighbors.

Joey and Bob on 12th Street - All of the PCPL Libraries, April 13th - 18th will take $1.00 off late fines if you give them one can of food for the Community Food Bank. You can give them up to ten cans which translates into $10.00 off late fines.

Jeff on Miles Street - He is a member of the Kiwanis Club and has a great deal on Tucson Toro's baseball tickets. http://www.tucsontoros.com/ For $30.00 you get 10 tickets for the May 29th game. That's a $20 savings. And besides the funds go to the Kiwanis Club, a wonderful international organization dedicated to helping children and young adults around the world. Please contact Jeff at 400-7895.

Richard Fimbres on Miles Street for Tucson City Council Ward 5 - Democrat - Richard is in the early stages of his campaign and needs 200 $10 or more dollar donations and 354 valid signatures to qualify for the Council office which is not much when you think about it. Let's all help him reach his goal. I know I'm going to help him because he is my neighbor and a good guy. You can reach Richard at fimbresforcouncil@gmail.com or 520-481-8012.

See you next Sunday.

Peter